New Obamacare customers are happy

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We’ve known for a few months now that lots of people signed up for health insurance this year in new marketplaces. A new survey shows that the people who did so are also pretty happy with their purchases.

The survey, from the Commonwealth Fund, a research group, came to similar conclusions as other surveys about the expansion of health insurance. It found that about 15 percent of adults younger than 65 now lack health insurance, down from 20 percent before the Affordable Care Act rolled out in January.

What was more surprising is that people who got the new coverage were generally happy with the product. Overall, 73 percent of people who bought health plans and 87 percent of those who signed up for Medicaid said they were somewhat or very satisfied with their new health insurance. Seventy-four percent of newly insured Republicans liked their plans. Even 77 percent of people who had insurance before — including members of the much-publicized group whose plans got canceled last year — were happy with their new coverage.

The Commonwealth poll appears to be the first national survey since the health-law passed to have gone beyond questions about insurance status and asked about satisfaction and usage.

Of course, since the article appears in the newest copout version of the NY TIMES, they meet the editorial requirement of stuffing the end of the article with beaucoup “what-ifs” just in case you might take a positive view – of a positive poll.

Perish the thought that changing times, a wee bit of change in politics as usual, might support even further movement in a population world-reknowned for ennui.

RTFA for more good news about legislation that benefits 99.9% of this nation.

“Emergency department use slowed for young adults up to age 26 once they were allowed to stay on their parents’ health plans under the Affordable Care Act, according to new research.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2014/09/08/er-use-dropped-as-obamacare-kept-young-adults-on-parents-plans/ “It’s an important finding since emergency department (ED) visits have “risen steadily for more than a decade,” researchers said. In addition, ED visits are often cited as an example of contributing to health costs when people without insurance seek treatment at the hospital rather than go to a doctor’s office, retail clinic or urgent care center.”

“Can Patrick Soon-Shiong, The World’s Richest Doctor, Fix Health Care?” http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/09/10/medicines-manhattan-project-can-the-worlds-richest-doctor-fix-health-care/ “On a typically perfect summer day in Los Angeles, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the richest doctor in the history of the world, is bunkered inside his clandestine headquarters (nestled behind a security gate so unobtrusive that Uber cars consistently miss it), ready to show around a kindred spirit. T. Denny Sanford, who made a $2.8 billion fortune selling high-interest-rate MasterCards to people with bad credit scores, is now in philanthropy mode, giving away most of his fortune to children’s charities and hospitals. And he’s come to see what’s been touted as the future of medicine.”